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                                       This e-mail was sent to us from a Chopper fan in the USA.

              (As with all the E-mails sent to us, we do NOT publish the senders name or e-mail address)

                            I have to tell you my Chopper story...probably similar
                          to many other people's.  I am 33 years old...the
                          youngest of four kids in the family.  I hung out a lot
                          with my next older brother (5-years difference).  His
                          best friend had an orange three-speed Chopper.  I was
                          three years old (1971) when I got to ride double on
                          the back of the Chopper.  I remember it like
                          yesterday.  From that point on, all I could think
                          about was having my own Chopper.  My parents still
                          have a letter to Santa Claus that I had scribbled
                          about wanting a Chopper bike.  I was too small at the
                          time to ride one anyway, but wanted one none the
                          less... Since I hung out with my older brother all the
                          time, I wanted to have the same stuff that he and his
                          friends had.   When I got older, I anxiously awaited
                          my birthdays hoping a Chopper would show up.  I
                          remember being in third grade, and drooling over a red
                          Mark 2 Chopper at a local bike shop.  Well, about a
                          month before my birthday, my Mom had read a Ralph
                          Nader article about how dangerous Choppers are.  On my
                          birthday, we drove to the Raleigh dealership two towns
                          away.  My brother and his friend came along.  I could
                          taste that new Chopper....this was MY day..  We got to
                          the dealership, I ran straight to the red Mark 2
                          (there was a yellow one next to it), totally smiling,
                          almost pissing my pants, afraid to touch it,
                          then....it happened...  Out rolled a new model bike
                          that looked like a motorcycle.  It was the dream of
                          any parent, but the nightmare of a chopper-freak
                          child.  Loaded with safety features, a big knobly
                          front wheel, fake gas tank, shock front and rear....
                          I was not happy...  Then, the owner of the shop looks
                          at my Mom and says, "your son will have more fun with
                          this bike, it's safer, and besides; Nobody wants a
                          chopper anymore!...I can't sell these two."  The
                          choppers were on sale for $65.00 and this new bike was
                          $129.00
                          You're thinking what I'm thinking; "Give me both the
                          Choppers, and stick that other bike up your Ralph
                          Nader worshiping ass you narcesistic bike dealer!"   
                          Anyway, you know what happened.....  Pissed of at the
                          world, I got the other bike.  My childhood would have
                          been so much different if I only had a Chopper.... 
                          My adulthood became a Chopper obsession.  I looked
                          around and finally found an orange mark 1 three-speed.
                          (I was 18 at the time).  Pre-ebay days where it was
                          hard to find such items....  I bought the bike, but
                          realized that an 18 year old no longer rides
                          children's bikes.  (I had a Porsche 911 already, what
                          do I need with a chopper).  On a whim, I sold the bike
                          through the Want Ad Press for $50.00  (blew the money
                          on a date), then realized what an idiot I was.  So, I
                          looked around some more and found nothing out there.
                          To shorten this story, years later, I located a
                          classic bike dealer, told him what I wanted, and paid
                          a premium for the 10-speed.  Then, I found another
                          one....paid big $ for that one, too...  Then, I came
                          across a green 5-speed mark 1.  So, now I have three
                          Choppers, only need one.... I'm going to keep one of
                          the 10-speeds until I die.... I realize that the
                          10-speeds are super rare, and are going up in value.
                          It doesn't shock me, because they are, in my opinion,
                          the ultimate bike.  They are the only 10-speed small
                          front wheel bikes ever made.  The Schwinn Krate bikes
                          don't even measure up.... 

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